


Actions Speak Louder Than Words

by elflordsmistress



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:16:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elflordsmistress/pseuds/elflordsmistress
Summary: A continuation of the 'moment' between C.J. and Danny in the office - a few hours before the reception in Leo's honour in 'Requiem'.
Relationships: Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg
Comments: 10
Kudos: 16





	Actions Speak Louder Than Words

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written any fanfiction since 2012, so feeling the compulsion to do so took me by surprise. Discovered 'The West Wing' about two weeks ago and, well, it's just as well binge watching is a thing these days. I'm still trying to find my way into these characters' voices, but this is one of my favourite interactions between the two of them for a variety of reasons .. so I figured I'll start here and see where it goes.

“It’s just, I know we have a lot to talk about. And I don’t want to leapfrog any of it, but it was kind of wonderful to just - ”

“Not talk.”

“Not even a little.”

He watched her nose crinkle, felt the ripples of their laughter collide in the space between them, and took the plunge.

“You wanna do it again tonight, dontcha?”

‘I really do.”

Danny felt the residual tension inside of him break.

“I’ll leave the door open.”

He watched as her incandescent smile spread to her eyes, and tried to remember whether she had ever looked at him that way in the early years. He didn’t think she had. Back then it had always been some variation of boundary pushing stymied by her concerns about conflict of interest. It was hard to believe that so many years had elapsed between then and now. Harder still to believe that the finish line was weeks away, and that there might be a real future to explore if they managed to cross it together. 

Her eyes fluttered closed as he drew nearer, but he couldn’t make up his mind whether a chaste kiss on the lips would be out of line, considering the day and the location.

He opted to rearrange her necklace instead.

“It was just a little .. off to the side,” he said as her eyes opened in surprise.

C.J. brought his hand to her lips, kissed the knuckles gently and then laid her cheek against them. He caressed her face with the back of his fingers, and the moment felt so much more intimate than a kiss that it was almost heady. 

“Your hair suits you like this,” he murmured.

Not quite what she’d been expecting, somehow, C.J. raised her hand to her sideswept fringe self-consciously.

“The front’s slipped.”

“Yeah?”

“I keep thinking the whole thing is going to come apart.”

“Got extra pins?” he asked as he raised his other hand to brush an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. “I’ll take care of it. Make sure it stays in place.”

Her eyes quizzed him for a heartbeat, and then she nodded towards the trench coat strewn across the back of the chair next to him.

“Pocket? Right? Left? ” he asked, without missing a beat.

“Right.” The fluidity felt a little surreal.

“Have a seat ..” he said as he pivoted the chair towards her.

She wasn’t really sure why she was bracing for impact as she settled herself in the chair - until his fingernails ghosted her scalp on their way to securing her hair in place.

The gasp was involuntary and barely audible, but she knew he’d heard it because his voice in her left ear was gravelly.

“All set.”

“Thank you, Danny.”

“Any time.”

She stood from her seat and turned to face him; not quite ready to let him go, but cognizant of several matters that needed to be attended to before before the reception in Leo’s honour.

Danny returned the chair to its previous position. 

“I need to let Margaret in,” she said softly.

“I’m gonna head down to the press room and see if there’s anyone down there.” He lingered in the doorway. “Need anything before I go?”

“I’m good.”

“Okay”. 

He flashed her a smile and turned to go.

“Danny?”

She really wanted the moment to stretch out a little longer.

“Yeah?”

“You never told me what you came here to say.”

He looked at her with a smile dancing in his eyes.

“Yeah I did.”

C.J. smiled as the door clicked shut behind him. She walked over to her desk and absently ran a finger around the rim of Gail’s bowl; replaying the last few minutes over in her head until she was sure she had filed them safely away. 

“Margaret ..”

The door swung open as CJ settled herself behind her desk.

“Ambassador Klein?”

“Line one.”


End file.
